Apopka QB Zack Darlington commits to Nebraska

Zack Darlington committed to Nebraska. Check out photos of Darlington, starting quarterback at Apopka, through the years. Orlando Sentinel. (Orlando Sentinel)

Chris Hays | Florida RecruitingOrlando Sentinel

Zack Darlington has been enthralled with the University of Nebraska since he was a kid. The images of legendary Cornhuskers quarterbacks dance through his head.

Now, one day perhaps, someone's image of a legendary Cornhusker QB might be that of Darlington himself.

The 6-foot-2, 205-pound Apopka quarterback committed to the Cornhuskers on Friday, telling the Sentinel his intentions after returning from a team mission trip to the Bahamas. Darlington had actually told Nebraska coaches he was committing last weekend during an unofficial visit to Lincoln, but he wanted to wait until he returned to make the news public.

While on his trip he had plenty of time to ponder his decision.

"No doubt, it was on my mind the whole time, but it was never a burden. It was always more like a burning excitement," Darlington said of his decision to attend Nebraska. "God has given to me the wisdom to change my life and I am very confident in this path he has chosen for me and I have never been so excited about anything in my whole life as I am about this.

"You dream about things and hope you get to do things, but when you are actually able to make a decision like this it's just unreal."

Darlington, the No. 1 ranked player in the Sentinel's 2014 Central Florida Super60, led surprising Apopka to a 13-2 record and the Florida large-school Class 8A state title last season. He passed for 1,725 yards and 19 touchdowns for what was predominantly a run-first offense. He ran plenty, as well, gaining 708 yards and scoring 10 touchdowns on the ground.

He has a strong, accurate arm and 4.5-seond 40-yard dash speed that makes a solid dual-threat quarterback. He is ranked by 247sports.com as the No. 12 dual-threat QB in the nation.

He picked the 'Huskers over Ohio State, much to the dismay of Buckeyes' head coach Urban Meyer and offensive coordinator Tim Herman, about whom Darlington could not say enough good things.

"All I have is the utmost respect for that coaching staff," Darlington said of Ohio State. "And as for Coach Herman, he is such an amazing man. I told him that as a coach he might not have won the recruiting battle, but as a person he helped change the life of someone and I just hope that's enough for him.

"I wanted to call him up and just thank him for such a great recruiting process and for helping me find out what I was looking for and being a great guy to talk to. He's just a very classy man."

Darlington had planned to visit Ohio State this summer, as well, but once he was at Nebraska, he didn't figure there was any more reason to make his parents cough up more travel money.

"I was always told when you shop around you become unsure and everyone I've talked to about the process has told me that when you are in the right place, it's going to feel like home and from the minute I set foot in Lincoln, Neb., I didn’t want to leave," Darlington said.

"And it was not only because of the coaches and the players and the staff, but the people of Nebraska. They were so humble and the nicest people I have ever met. They were saying, 'Hi,' and talking to me about what I was doing in Nebraska and these people had no idea who I was, but they genuinely acted like they cared. I was blown away by that."

Offensive coordinator Tim Beck was Darlington's recruiter, but he had great things to say about the entire staff at Nebraska.

"Honestly, Coach Beck was my recruiter, but I couldn't pick out one guy," Darlington said of what coach had the most influence on his decision. "All of them are just the type of people that if I had a son who went on to play football I would trust them to take care of everything with him. I know that's how my parents feel about it."

Darlington compared Nebraska head coach Bo Pelini to his father and Apopka head coach Rick Darlington, who is sending his second son to a Midwest college. Oldest son Ty — of seven children — will be a sophomore offensive center at Oklahoma this year. He was named Freshman All-Big 12 after last season.

"Everyone thinks Coach Pelini is some mean aggressive guy 24/7," Darlington said. "I met him a long time ago even before they were recruiting me and I realized he’s not what people think.

"He’s actually a lot like my dad. He has a sense of humor and jokes around and likes to have good time, but not everyone sees that. It's like my dad, people just see this guy out on the field screaming at the players in pictures in the newspaper or on TV or something, but it's just flipping a switch ... knowing when to turn it on and off. I hope I am able to be like that. I want to compete with the best of them, but when it's time flip the switch I want to be able to do that."

He was also impressed with Pelini's attention to academics, and the Nebraska devotion to team Bible study, something his father makes important at Apopka and something Zack wanted to be part of in college, as well.

"I loved everything all the way up to the faith part of it and it was important to me the role that team Bible study plays," he said. "I'm sure other schools have it and do the same thing, but Coach Ron Brown, he's the running backs coach and he's been there 20 years and he was telling me about FCA and being able to get plugged into stuff like that ... it will just be an amazing experience."

So he's a 'Husker now and he's happy he made the choice.

"I know that picking Nebraska over Ohio State might not be the most common decision," Darlington said, "but when I was growing up I read Tony Dungy's book called 'Uncommon.' Being uncommon is a way to do things that brings God to glory but not in a way that makes you stand out as an individual and to not to go with the flow all the time. I like to be different, but not in a way that will draw attention to myself."

He'll get plenty of attention, however. Eighty-some thousand 'Husker fans will bring all that on home-game Saturday's in Lincoln, when Memorial Stadium becomes the third largest populated area in the state.